June part 2

Tyler learned to ride a bike.  He did it really quickly too.  That's what happens when you wait until they're five I guess.  He's a pro now.  He even rides with one hand.  He was very excited to learn so he could start learning to ride the dirt bike.  No training wheels on the dirt bikes here.  Learn to ride a bike, then it's time for the dirt bike.

For Father's Day, we made Lance a cookie bouquet.  The typical bouquet uses shortbread cookies and gumdrops.  I didn't think Lance would be too thrilled about that so I substituted Coconut Dreams (the Keebler version of Samoas, so good) and Rolos.  The kids each got to make a few and eat a few before we "surprised" Lance with it.  He loved it.  He ended up sharing a lot of cookies.  That's one of the reasons he's such a great dad.

Brady really wanted to lick those cookies.

There's a story behind this picture.  It's just too bad I don't remember what it is.  Someone tried to get themself a drink and we ended up with water all over.  We have one of those filter pitchers since our water just doesn't taste as good as it used to.  It's pretty much a rite of passage now for people who are over at our house to spill the water right after I fill the pitcher.  It's pretty comical.  I just might do it on purpose from now on.

One of my friend's dogs had puppies.  We bombarded them with a bunch of little kids who were really excited to hold the puppies.  

They were begging to bring one home for days after that.

I managed to ignore their pleas even though those puppies were so cute.

I'm still in trouble for the kittens I brought home 9 years ago.

It's the middle of June.  Doesn't everybody cut out snowflakes?  It was too hot to go outside so maybe it helped them feel a little cooler.

We were out for a short walk one day.  We were just over a block from home when Tyler went down a curb and lost control of the bike.  It was very traumatic for him, as evidenced by some of the things he said.  Here's some of his quotes from the experience.  "I was trying to land on my foot, but it bammed my elbow."  "I'll never stop crying!"  That one was at the top of his lungs as he cried as loud as he could.  "Home is so far away." - Less than a block away at this point.  We could see our house.  "I need an ambulance."  "It's bleeding down my arm!"  Blood really freaks him out.  I don't think he'll be the doctor in the family.  Of course I had to take a picture before I could clean him up.  He was not happy with me.

With all of the kids at home during the day, Isaac realized he was really missing out during nap time so he stopped being so willing to lay down.  Some days he just couldn't make it all day without a little snooze somewhere.  I'm glad he's sleeping on his blanket.  Those stairs are nasty.

Then it was time for the annual go-melt-in-the-sun-for-not-just-one-parade-but-three.  Who doesn't love a good parade, but why don't we have these in April or September?  It's hot in the summer.

Isaac got really into the horse parade.  He wanted to be right out there for all of it.

The girls and I walked in the "miniature" parade.  (All of the floats are pulled by hand.)  The theme was You Saw What?  Our Ward did "We saw a train but didn't hear it's horn", celebrating the glorious days of no more train horns due to the crossing upgrades that don't allow you to go around the arms.  It's really fantastic when you only live a few blocks from the tracks and there's about 6 crossings in less than a mile so when the trains came through, they pretty much just laid on the horn all the way through.  Anyway, the kids were supposed to dress up as commuters, students or railroad workers.  Mia's a student, Chloe's a commuter.

The last parade we took our easy up and basked in the shade.  It was still hot, but more bearable.

Chloe was grumpy for some reason.  She'd been playing with my makeup the night before, so she kind of looked like a grumpy teenager.  The bandaid is on a mosquito bite she kept itching.

This year for the first time in three years, Lance joined us for the Saturday parade instead of being in it.  It was really nice.  We really missed his great commentary.  

We sat right in front of a small car dealership.  They had a small pressure washer they got out and sprayed the kids and parade participants.  Everybody loved it.

Even Chloe brightened up as her makeup smeared even more.

I made some homemade detergent a couple of years ago.  This is the second time it's been dumped.  You'd think I'd either use it or put the lid on tight.  I guess I just love those unexpected messes.  I can never get enough.